James Bond 24 - Part 3

[ajpro]

Actresses who should be Bond girls:

Antje Traue
Paula Patton
Freida Pinto
Amber Heard
Lupita Nyong'o

Any others?

Aren't they a bit "mainstream" for a Bond movie? Sony tend to go for indie european actresses for their Bond girls, so I would go with Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Clemence Poesy, Michelle Dockery or Ophelia Lovibond (she should keep her name for the movie though).

 

[StarLord]

I wouldn't say Antje Traue is ''mainstream''.

 

[ajpro]

I wouldn't say Antje Traue is ''mainstream''.

maybe I went a bit too far generalizing all of them Antje would be great. But Lupita gained a lot of buzz after recent Oscars, and Paula, Amber & Freida are appearing here and there in different Hollywood movies for the last few years. Not that it is bad, but it kills that mystery feel surrounding Bond girls. Not just characters, also actresses. Eva Green was nobody before Casino Royale, Olga Kurylenko had that crappy Max Payne and Hitman movies no one watched.

 

[regwec]

Eva Green was in Kingdom of Heaven, which was a major movie. I would say that her profile then was about the same as Pinto's is now. In any case, we forget that many Bond girls have been somewhat established actresses (Arterton, Berry, Marceau, Richards etc), and naming a lot of actresses that no-one else had heard of would be a bit pointless.

 

[Dark Raven]

I prefer the European Bond girls who are less known than American Bond girls or British ones. British ones are okay for background characters but I prefer the main one to be someone European or another exotic ethnicity.

When I think of American Bond girls, the list comes up like Halle Berry, Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, Jill St John, Carey Lowell, Lois Chiles, none of whom were that great Bond girls. That's why Goldeneye is the most classic of the Brosnan Bond movies, because that had European Bond girls. After that, it became a bit commercialised and for 3 straight movies they had American ones.

 

[Venomfan]

Because it wasn't necessary, at least imo. I don't care whatsoever if Bond has blonde hair, or dark hair, or is freaking bald. I care about the actor being able to nail the character traits that actually matter, which Craig has.

That's why I'm curious. Why was it deemed necessary for his Golden Compass character but not for Bond?

 

[DKDetective]

I prefer the European Bond girls who are less known than American Bond girls or British ones. British ones are okay for background characters but I prefer the main one to be someone European or another exotic ethnicity.

When I think of American Bond girls, the list comes up like Halle Berry, Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, Jill St John, Carey Lowell, Lois Chiles, none of whom were that great Bond girls. That's why Goldeneye is the most classic of the Brosnan Bond movies, because that had European Bond girls. After that, it became a bit commercialised and for 3 straight movies they had American ones.

Yeah, I'm really bored of Anglo-American girls at this point,. However, I'm probably more tired of fellow agent Bond girls, such as Wai Lin, Jinx, Camille, and Eve. The Anya Amasova-type of Bond girl, just liked the sacrificial lamb one, has become really overdone and cliche lately. We need more Bond girls like Severin. Eve was okay because she felt more like an inversion of the trope as a wannabe female Bond who realized she wasn't cut out for it.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I prefer the European Bond girls who are less known than American Bond girls or British ones. British ones are okay for background characters but I prefer the main one to be someone European or another exotic ethnicity.

When I think of American Bond girls, the list comes up like Halle Berry, Denise Richards, Teri Hatcher, Jill St John, Carey Lowell, Lois Chiles, none of whom were that great Bond girls. That's why Goldeneye is the most classic of the Brosnan Bond movies, because that had European Bond girls. After that, it became a bit commercialised and for 3 straight movies they had American ones.

I liked Carey Lowell.

 

[Rodrigo90]

She was my favourite 80's Bond girl

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah, I'm really bored of Anglo-American girls at this point,. However, I'm probably more tired of fellow agent Bond girls, such as Wai Lin, Jinx, Camille, and Eve. The Anya Amasova-type of Bond girl, just liked the sacrificial lamb one, has become really overdone and cliche lately. We need more Bond girls like Severin. Eve was okay because she felt more like an inversion of the trope as a wannabe female Bond who realized she wasn't cut out for it.

Definitely bored of fellow agents who think they're Bond's equal. That became really overdone during Brosnan's era and since. Each Bond girl who came along kept saying how we're going to see a much stronger woman who has never been seen before and is equal to Bond in every way. And since they all kept saying that with each successive film, then what does that mean for the Bond girl who said it before them in the previous film?

I'd be quite happy to get some woman who thinks she's a damsel in distress but somehow finds the strength she didn't know she had, but would never admit to being Bond's equal even if maybe she could be if she really tried.

 

[regwec]

Domino in Thunderball had quite a good character arc in that respect. Her small act of defiance and bravery from within Largo's own kingdom was more meaningful than Bond charging in with guns blazing.

I think the best Bondgirls are often those who are gangsters' molls or in some way affiliated with the villain. It tends to make them slightly deeper, and weaves them into the plot more tightly. It also underlines the tension in the rivalry between Bond and the villain. That isn't to say that it should always be a romantic love triangle: Solitaire and Domino were both wards of the principle villains, after all.

I agree that the kick-ass female spy trope is tired. I think it was a 90's-00's reaction to Bond becoming an invincible comicbook superhero. His invulnerability became to evident that the leading lady had to be super-powered herself in order to prevent the relationship between the two seeming like propagandic misogynistic. Bond is somewhat more grounded and vulnerable now, so we ought to be able to have more flawed Bond girls.

 

[chamber-music]

Lea Seydoux is Daniel Craig's third French Bond girl.

I think a German Bond girl like Antje Traue would be cool and a African Bond girl would be interesting as well.

 

[Brian Braddock]

I liked Carey Lowell.

She was my favourite 80's Bond girl

Y'know, I never appreciated her when I was younger, but in my more mature years I've since looked back and realised that she was very, very beautiful. So much so that I now think she was hotter than Soto, who was previously my favourite of the movie. I think it was the short hair - I've never really appreciated that look on women but strangely enough it worked on Lowell, to the point that I actually think that she looked better with the short hair than she did with long hair.

Anywhoo - my favourite Bond girls:-

60's - Daniela Bianchi/Claudine Auger
70's - Jill St. John/Jane Seymour/Barbara Bach
80's - Kristina Wayborn/Fiona Fullerton/Carey Lowell
90's - Izabella Scorupco
00's - Catherina Munro/Olga Kurylenko

and I'd love to see the likes of Paula Patton and Indira Varma alongside Craig. Varma especially.

 

[Dark Raven]

Y'know, I never appreciated her when I was younger, but in my more mature years I've since looked back and realised that she was very, very beautiful. So much so that I now think she was hotter than Soto, who was previously my favourite of the movie. I think it was the short hair - I've never really appreciated that look on women but strangely enough it worked on Lowell, to the point that I actually think that she looked better with the short hair than she did with long hair.

Anywhoo - my favourite Bond girls:-

60's - Daniela Bianchi/Claudine Auger
70's - Jill St. John/Jane Seymour/Barbara Bach
80's - Kristina Wayborn/Fiona Fullerton/Carey Lowell
90's - Izabella Scorupco
00's - Catarina Murino/Olga Kurylenko

and I'd love to see the likes of Paula Patton and Indira Varma alongside Craig. Varma especially.

Fixed.

And Indira Varma? Ugh. Couldn't stand her in Human Target. It's not like she's so hot anyway. If you want an Indian Bond girl, why not Freida Pinto? She's much better, doesn't have a big nose and doesn't sound as annoying.

 

[regwec]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc.

 

[Brian Braddock]

Exactly. To me, Varma is sexy as hell, and classy with it. Luthor, Game of Thrones - shes still got it. Actually I think her maturity is a bonus.

 

[AnneFan]

Eve Moneypenny was a decent spin on the 'Bond girl equal' scenario. She thought she was up to the task of being a regular agent, but ultimately decided to retire and take a desk job. I wouldn't mind getting another 'expert in her field' type Bond girl. A scientist, astronaut, nuclear physicist, hacker, etc.

 

[Loki882]

I absolutely DO NOT want more Bond Girls like Severine. Her role in the movie was as follows:

1. Be a victim.
2. Bang Bond.
3. Die.
4. Never be mentioned or remembered after that whatsoever.

I loved Skyfall, but that character was such a waste. And I see no reason NOT to have female agents. That's better than the misogynistic stuff that this franchise USED to do with it's female characters.

 

[Dark Raven]

I absolutely DO NOT want more Bond Girls like Severine. Her role in the movie was as follows:

1. Be a victim.
2. Bang Bond.
3. Die.
4. Never be mentioned or remembered after that whatsoever.

I loved Skyfall, but that character was such a waste. And I see no reason NOT to have female agents. That's better than the misogynistic stuff that this franchise USED to do with it's female characters.

It's dull. What Bond used to do more was have innocent or unwilling civilians be caught up in the adventure, and that is far more exciting than seeing a professional agent. Some of these old Alfred Hitchcock movies did that, particularly with actors like Cary Grant or James Stewart. There was a more relatable, everyman quality about it when they were embroiled in a spy plot without wanting to be, and having to rise to the occasion.

Now obviously, Bond is never going to be the everyman caught up in the plot against his will, so that only leaves the Bond girl. It's not misogynistic if you don't see them simply as a victim but as the innocent bystander trope, which male actors do fulfil in other movies, but clearly the main one can't here.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Maggie Q!

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Definitely bored of fellow agents who think they're Bond's equal. That became really overdone during Brosnan's era and since. Each Bond girl who came along kept saying how we're going to see a much stronger woman who has never been seen before and is equal to Bond in every way. And since they all kept saying that with each successive film, then what does that mean for the Bond girl who said it before them in the previous film?

Yeah, they've been doing it since Honor Blackman in Goldfinger. That was 50 years ago.

For some reason people act like every Bond girl prior to the 90s was like Honey Ryder.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

She was my favourite 80's Bond girl

I won't go quite that far, but she's second.

My favorite Bond girl from the 80s and one of my top three or four overall is Melina Havelock. That's a good example of making a strong female lead without just turning her into an Agent XXX clone. And I really liked how they tied in her story of revenge for the murder of her parents with Bond's own after the murder of his wife.

 

[Schlosser85]

Aren't they a bit "mainstream" for a Bond movie? Sony tend to go for indie european actresses for their Bond girls, so I would go with Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Clemence Poesy, Michelle Dockery or Ophelia Lovibond (she should keep her name for the movie though).

Nobody knows who Antje Traue is outside of Man of Steel fans, and even some of them probably don't. She's not "mainstream", she's a German actress with ONE high-profile American film to her name.

For that matter, people like Paula Patton and Freida Pinto aren't huge names either. Even Lupita Nyong'o has literally done ONE movie outside of Kenya besides a tiny part in Non-Stop. Granted, it was greatly-acclaimed and she won an Oscar, but it's still not like she's Anne Hathaway or Jennifer Lawrence.

 

[regwec]

It's dull. What Bond used to do more was have innocent or unwilling civilians be caught up in the adventure, and that is far more exciting than seeing a professional agent. Some of these old Alfred Hitchcock movies did that, particularly with actors like Cary Grant or James Stewart. There was a more relatable, everyman quality about it when they were embroiled in a spy plot without wanting to be, and having to rise to the occasion.

Now obviously, Bond is never going to be the everyman caught up in the plot against his will, so that only leaves the Bond girl. It's not misogynistic if you don't see them simply as a victim but as the innocent bystander trope, which male actors do fulfil in other movies, but clearly the main one can't here.

I agree. Another problem with having an endless series of "Bondette" spy-girls is that it rather shifts the perception of the world Bond inhabits to one where latex-clad stealth superwomen are commonplace. That's fun to an extent, but it can drift into parody. It is better for the femme fatale to be an equal threat to Bond, if some statement of gender equality is needed, because that at least enhances the dramatic conflict.

Let's be clear that a Bondgirl need not be "inferior" to Bond merely because she is not also a secret services agent. She might well be far superior to him in a given undertaking, or have knowledge that he doesn't. Natalya's hacking skills are a fair example, though hacking is deplorably overused as a plot device in action movies. I could easily imagine a female version of Nicolas Cage's biological weapons expert in The Rock.

Maggie Q!

Good shout!

 

[Pink Ranger]

I could easily imagine a female version of Nicolas Cage's biological weapons expert in The Rock.

Who would also be played by Nicolas Cage. He would do it, and it would be glorious, deep down inside we all know that.